*** CATHY DEMOS PART III ****

[rhill@netrun.cts.com (ronald hill)]

THE "KICK INSIDE" DEMOS
 
     An additional six demo recordings have recently begun to circulate 
among fans, in very poor-quality audio. These recordings are of a far 
more refined and polished type, and are fully orchestrated and produced. 
They would seem to have been recorded in 1976 or 1977, and are probably 
among the many tracks which were worked on prior to the final selection 
of the thirteen songs on "The Kick Inside". Five of the titles are 
familiar: "Moving", "Don't Push Your Foot on the Heart Brake", "L'Amour 
Looks Something Like You", "Kite" and "Strange Phenomena". They are very 
professional in sound, but Kate's vocals seem (perhaps only in hindsight) 
a bit constrained by the backing rhythm, and the tone of some of the 
instrumentalists' work sounds inappropriately lightweight for the songs, 
in comparison with their official versions.
      The sixth track from this group of demos is an unreleased song 
called "Scares Me Silly". Apparently an effort by Kate to make a very  
pop-oriented tune, it is extremely bouncy and catchy, laden with melodic 
hooks. Its lyrics are fascinating, as well (they describe the challenge 
of retaining the original spark of feeling of a song during the recording 
process). Perhaps the song's carefree tone may have been the reason for 
its omission from "The Kick Inside", though as is often the case with 
Kate's music, the lyrics belie the song's light-hearted sound.


OTHER DEMOS

      Finally, there are at least two known demo versions of the song 
"Babooshka". Excerpts from the demos were apparently played by Kate 
herself on a British radio programme ca. 1980 or 1982. (I have heard that 
she played demos of "Sat In Your Lap" as well, although this has never 
been confirmed and is probably someone confusing this with the 
"Babooshka" demos.) The first demo of "Babooshka" features Kate on piano, 
and she has added one backing vocal during the choruses. The second 
version has a percussion pattern from an early rhythm-box, and features a 
synthesizer and, in addition to the lead vocal, at least two over-dubbed 
backing vocals. 


ETHICAL QUESTIONS

        There has been a debate amoung Kate fans as to whether or not it 
is ethical to purchase the bootlegs these songs are on, or to even own 
tapes of these songs.  The side that is against this advances the 
following arguments against the bootlegs: 

        1) Although Kate has never commented publically on the release of 
these demos, the following did appear in _Homeground_, which pretty much 
acts as a Bush family mouth-piece when called upon to do so:

  HOMEGROUND feels that it should be said, in view of possible legal
  actions pending, that these tapes are highly illegal, and that
  copying and distribution, even amongst friends and not for gain is
  still illegal. Kate herself is highly upset about these releases.

        Given this, and the fact that Kate took legal action to stop the 
release of "The Early Years" album (see above), they feel that its best 
to simply respect Kate's wishes and not own the songs.

        2) It supports bootleggers, who are making a profit off of Kate's 
work.

        3) The tapes were, somewhere along the line, stolen from Kate or 
her record company. 

        4) The bootlegs are illegal.  According the the Bern Convention, 
Kate retains the copyright on the tapes even though they have never been 
published and even though she has not prosecuted to stop the bootlegs. 


        And then there are the people who may agree with much of above, 
but put forth the following arguements in favor of owning the demos: 

        1) The songs were apparently made originally to be played to 
other people, so it's not like they were personal diaries or anything. 

        2)The songs aren't available through the record companies (and 
they would buy them if they were), so they aren't stealing money from the 
companies or Kate. 

        3) Copying the tapes and giving them to friends keeps people from 
buying bootlegs. 

        4) That one more person owning or not owning the demos is not 
going to change anything.



SOURCE OF THE DEMOS

        IED doesn't know any details of where these recordings came from 
(probably no-one but the bootleggers themselves do), but he was told by 
an apparently knowledgeable source that the tapes originated from someone 
in the Manchester Square, London offices of EMI--someone "high up" in the 
corporate hierarchy. Who knows?  The "Kick Inside" demos would seem to 
support the idea of a leak at EMI itself, since presumably those tapes 
were made after Kate had definitely signed to EMI. This is also probably 
true of the "Cathy demos", although it is still possible that those 
recordings were made prior to Kate's signing, and therefore might be 
among some of the tapes which Kate submitted to other labels.
     IED thinks it very unlikely that whoever got these tapes to the
bootleggers had had them for fourteen years (or whatever). Remember,
these are not the same as the "Early Years" demos, which have been
known about (though never heard) since at least four years before the 
release of "The Cathy Demos". Those recordings may have been in 
bootleggers' hands for years, but the 23 demos in the _Cathy_Demos_ 
collection had never been heard of by fans prior to the appearance of the 
_Volume_One_ EP in 1989.  The one exception to this was a letter from 
Phenix in the April/May * 1984 * issue of Breakthrough:
        "Also there's a small but loyally followed radio station, KSTM, 
which isn't averse to playing Kate's songs. In * 1982 * when local DJ 
(name deleted) was at KSTM, he aired an hour of Kate's rarities which 
included some of her very early solo-piano work. He had worked for EMI at 
the time of Kate's initial signing, and aquired the tapes then. There 
were some real surprises for collectors, including an altered version of 
Hammer Horror and another song with a refrain about 'playing canasta in 
cold rooms.' Does anyone know anything about this rare song? ...Now I'm 
off to write the KB club!"


THE BOOTLEGS

     The first sign of the existence of "The Cathy Demos" came in the 
spring of 1989 in the form of a bootleg seven-inch EP (anonymously 
pressed and distributed) called "Kate Bush: The Cathy Demos, Volume One." 
Eventually a total of five EPs were released containing 23 songs.  The 
EPs still contain the better sound quality then the later albums and CDs, 
as these later releases seemed to be mastered from the EPs.  The fifth EP 
remains the only source for Organic Acid, but these EPs do NOT contain 
the six "Kick Inside Demos" nor the two "Babooshka" demos.
     Meanwhile, a cassette, also entirely anonymous in origin, but 
sometimes called "Fiddle" (a reference to the song "Violin"), became 
available through classified ads and at U.S. record swapmeets in 1989. 
This cassette contained a total of twenty-two tracks, as Organic Acid was 
missing.  The sound reproduction on the cassettes is noticeably inferior 
to that found on the vinyl EPs.
        The albums Cathy's Album and Cathy's Album Two contain all of 
"The Cathy Demos" (except Organic Acid) and "The Kick Inside Demos".  
These were apparently mastered off of the "Cathy Demos" EPs and the sound 
quality is not so good.
        The Alone At My Piano CD contains all of "The Cathy Demos", 
except "Organic Acid", but doesn't contain the six "Kick Inside Demos" or 
the "Babooshka" demos.  It is supposed to have the best CD sound quality.
        Practice Makes Perfect Piano Demos Volume One (Europe) CD has 
"The Cathy Demos" (except Organic Acid and Goodnight Baby) and "The Kick 
Inside Demos" (except Moving).  It does not contain the "Babooshka" 
demos.  The sound quality is said to have some cracks and pops, and it is 
edited in such a way that the songs sometimes fade out a little soon.
        If You Could See Me Fly and Passing Through Air (together, and 
these CD'S are DIFFERENT then the LPs of the same names) have all "The 
Cathy Demos" (except Organic Acid), the "Kick Inside" demos, and the 
"Babooshka" demos.  These were apparently mastered off of Cathy's Album 
and Cathy's Album Two, and so the sound quality is not so good.
        


---
rhill@netrun.cts.com (ronald hill)
NetRunner's Paradise BBS, San Diego CA